


Moon Shades

by CyberRibbon96



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, Asexual OC, Della is ignorant but can be redeemed (mostly), Donald is a good parent, F/F, Lunaris is a villain but a good daddy, M/M, Mentioned death of canon and OC, Non-Binary Louie, OOCness, Other, Penumbra has Mommy feels, non-canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29939109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyberRibbon96/pseuds/CyberRibbon96
Summary: Confronting someone you hurt or who hurt you isn't easy but it's unavoidable.
Relationships: Daisy Duck/Donald Duck, One-Sided Penumbra/OC, Past Lunaris/OC, Penumbra/Selene (Disney: DuckTales)
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by catharsis caused by a not-so-nice version of Della and trans-Donald. This is disconnected from my other fanfic regarding Lunaris and Crescena. In this work Crescena (mentioned) was born and raised on the Moon and had a child with Lunaris. She passed away prior to Della being found. After the Moonvasion, FOWL tried to invade the Moon where Eclipsius was and Lunaris sacrificed himself to protect his son. Now Eclipsius lives on Earth with the rest of his kind. Penumbra is the Moon version of god-mother.

Chapter 1

“No way?! Glomgold did that?! Unbelievable!” a red-haired adolescent Moonlander laughed as he sat across from St. Canard’s mayor.

Shooting her secretary and friend an amused and mock exasperated look, Zan replied, “If I hadn’t had the displeasure of working with the man for several months, I would have agreed with you. It was just one of his many cockamamie endeavors that pushed me to do something more than a wing-woman for billionaire blowhards. I should thank him but, well, you know.”

“Oh yeah. Don’t need to inflate Mr. Ego’s head,” Eclipsius snickered, infecting his dinner mate who had no problem letting her laughter be heard. 

The two sat at a small table outside the restaurant called Diamond’s Rival which specialized in desserts, cocktails based off of sweets, and good quality coffee beverages. Their plates and glasses, which had held chocolate chip Belgian waffles with scoops of salted caramel and vanilla ice cream topped with chopped pecans with Raspberry Ganache Macchiatos, were now impeccably clean save for the stray pecan and smear of whipped cream in one glass. After a day filled with meetings, press conferences, and an attempted “kidnapping” by a rogue Beagle Boy (who, in his panic, had accidentally chloroformed himself), the female owl had decided to treat her companion/employee to a treat.

Eclipsius had enjoyed his food immensely, though from his prestigious table manners one would think he was still as tentative of Earth food as he had been when he first arrived to Earth. Picking up the stray pecan, he popped it into his mouth and enjoyed the crunchy notes and taste that was still foreign to him but not unpleasant. It reminded him of the roasted Moon scorpions he often missed consuming. Regardless, the meal had been more than pleasant and his employer’s kindness excelled anyone’s expectations. 

In the corner of his vision, he took notice of his Earth phone, the screen brightening as he got a silent news notification. The cover was intensely blue, almost black, with golden pinstripes that shimmered like thin rivers. The only apps anyone would find in it were ones for music, a calculator, a calendar, internet search, a history of texting between him and Zan, an inbox for emails, and a news outlet app. This wasn’t his first Earth device. The one he had prior was decorated with a neon blue color that was dotted with smiling clouds. The phone itself held a dozen apps that he had no idea how to use and had no desire to learn how. That first phone was everything he wasn’t.

Just like the façade he had worn when he lived with-

No! he chided himself firmly. We won’t think about it. It’s behind us. You ended those ties. 

“Are you finished?”

Being brought back to reality, he saw that a twenty-something female blue bird with purple-highlighted blonde hair, soft violet eyes, and adorned in the restaurants red and white uniform smiling at them. He quickly recognized her as their server, Kara. 

“If you’re both done, I can take your plates and glasses,” she said in a polite voice with a friendly smile.

“Yes, we’re done here. Thank you, Kara,” the head of the city said with a nod and a smile. “Your service was just as amazing as the food. Give our compliments to the chef.”

“I will! Thank you so much!” the young bluebird nodded to the older and more powerful owl as she began gathering the tableware. “And let me just say, I think you’re amazing too Mayor Owlsone. You really changed this city for the better.”

It was then that Eclipsius took notice of the rainbow wristband the server was wearing, the white slew of letters making him recall weeks back when he and Zan had stood before a multi-colored building alongside a group of youths, who had shared in the ribbon-cutting. He instantly recalled one youth who had also been a bluebird with blonde hair cut short and sea green colored eyes. 

“I’m just doing what I can to bring out the best in this city and its people,” the mayor said with no trace of insincerity.

Reaching into his pocket, pulled out a large shard of gold and offered it to Kara, “I believe you’ve earned this.”

Her eyes glimmered as she caught sight of the valuable piece he offered her, her expression even more surprised than Owlson. Most of the Moonlanders’s gold had gone to repairing the cities that had suffered the most damage, like Duckburg. The majority of Moonlanders also chose to live in Duckburg while the rest spread out over the globe. Eclipsius had been the first and only Moonlander so far to come into St. Canard. 

Unfortunately his arrival, and reason for arriving, to St. Canard had not been a happy one. 

It was a stroke of luck that Zan had come across the young Moonlander, shivering and hiding near the library. She had taken him in, not at all frightened that he was the son of the one who attempted to enslave Earth. After a few days, he opened up to her. The boy’s story reminded her of her own troubled youth. The only difference was that she had people she could trust and who loved her regardless. 

The teen had left an environment that made him feel insecure and unaccepted. How many youths had her charities and campaigns saved? Too many. But Eclipsius wasn’t like the youths who had trouble getting back up after living in their own shattered worlds. He was eager to work, to find a new home for himself, and to start a life on Earth that he could be happy with. 

That he could control. 

Eclipsius wasn’t unfamiliar with the life that St. Canard offered. A place with people who accepted each other no matter what. Once upon a time on the Moon, he had known that lifestyle too. He had seen people hold hands and call each other by the names they asked to be known as. They dressed as they wished and loved who they loved, never getting so much as a frown for it. That was until he came to Earth. 

“I-I can’t that,” Kara gently and politely protested, though her eyes said differently.

“Of course you can,” Eclipsius encouraged patiently, like an adult urging a child to take their first step into a new school, which was ironic as he was still ten years her junior.

“Better do what my friend here says,” Mayor Owlson encouraged in a playful no-nonsense tone. “He won’t take no for an answer.”

After hesitating for a few more seconds, Kara finally reached out and took it, eyes now filled with gratitude with a touch of astonishment as she held it to her chest and breathed, “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing,” Eclipsius reassured with a small smile and nod as she put the gold away and took off back into the kitchen restaurant with their dishes and glasses.

“I didn’t know you had gold on you,” the female owl stated as her yellow eyes met Eclipsius’s soft light blue orbs.

“It’s just something I have for emergencies,” Eclipsius shrugged.

Owlson snorted in response, stating, “Like the “attempt on my life” by that Beagle Boy?”

Smirking the teen Moonlander nodded, “Yeah that. Hopefully that’s the last time those Beagles do that. I hear that what they lack in brain and strategy, they make up for in numbers and brawn.”

He then saw her eyes flicker to something on his chest. Looking, he saw that his golden moon pendant had slipped out of his black dress shirt and shown brightly under the coincidental moonlight. He gripped the pendant and stroked it with his thumb.

Lowering her voice as something akin to a maternal glimmer, Zan spoke, “Your parents gave you that?”

“My dad gave it to my Mom when he began courting her. She gave it to me…before she got sick,” he murmured without looking at her.

“I’m sorry,” the head of city murmured. 

“It’s one of the few things I have left of either of them,” he said as he looked back at her, blue eyes carrying nostalgic sorrow. “I know what my dad betrayed his duty as a general, and everyday I wish I had known what I know now so I could have convinced him to choose peace. But he wasn’t a bad father or a bad husband. He and my mother adored each other and me. Even when he we lost her, he never resorted to sinking into his grief or taking it out on me.” 

“He died protecting you when F.O.W.L. went to the Moon to steal the rest of its gold,” the Owlson said knowingly. “I believe you.”

A soft wistful smile spread over his face when a new voice burst out from behind him.

“Eclipsius?”

He swiveled around, Zan leaning to the side to look behind him. There before them was another Earther and Moonlander duo. A painfully familiar one.

Della Duck, dressed in a yellow long-sleeve with jeans, a turnaround from her usual pilot outfit. She stood side by side with former Lieutenant Penumbra who was also wearing jeans but wore a stone-washed jacket over a dark red blouse. Both women stared in disbelief at the young male Moonlander who they hadn’t seen in months and vice versa. Della’s eyes were startled and confused while Penumbra’s eyes slowly filled up with what looked like relief and what could only be described as a desire to grab him and hold him close. 

Eclipsius felt neither. No, what he felt was fear. His mind began echoing with sentences he had long buried within the back of his mind. 

What do you mean you don’t like her like that? She’s so sweet!

Well, putting you with a girl didn’t work so why not a guy?

That’s just your nerves talking. Of course you want a relationship.

Seriously, you’re not going to even give them a chance? You’re not being fair.

Do you want to be alone the rest of your life? Because that’s what you’re going to get if you don’t give anyone a chance!

You’ll go and you’ll like it. Trust me.

Again? That’s the third person I’ve set you up with who tried to kiss you and you get cold feet!

Those words echoed like dry winds that dried his skin, making him feel like he would crack and bleed if he moved.

“Hello, ladies. May we help you?” Zan inquired with civil tone, but sensing Eclipsius’s distress made her own feathers ruffle. 

“Oh, Mayor Owlson,” Della suddenly broke out of her own trance and chirped, recalling the woman who she had met days prior to the Moonvasion. “My friend, Penny, and I came here to try the new restaurant. I hear the stuff here is to die for, right Penny?”

Penumbra said nothing as she and the younger male continued to lock gazes with each other.

They only broke when Della spoke directly at Eclipsius, “So this is where you’ve been hiding all this time. I mean we suspected you were might have been in a nearby county or city, but we couldn’t figure out which. And we were planning to find out which so we could visit you, but some things came up.”

Blinking from his dark trance, Eclipsius’s gaze hardened like ice over a lake, replying, “Of course.”

He wanted to make a snide remark about his being aware of what happened after he left the McDuck Manor but he forced it down. He would not let this woman rile him up. Not again. 

“The food here is good,” Zan nodded, keeping her tone even and hostility-free despite being aware of what transpired between her companion and the two women before them. “And we’ve had our fill so we’ll be on our way.”

Eclipsius was already out of his seat and at his boss and friend’s side, both ready to head back to the car. Penumbra spun to them, arm reaching out. She couldn’t let him leave again! She had spent months agonizing over where he was. If he was safe, happy, and healthy.

But before she could get a word past her lilac lips, the female pilot shouted, “Is this why you didn’t like any of the people I set you up with? You prefer older women?”

Eclipsius stopped in his tracks, even as Zan tried to urge him to continue following her, head turning slightly so that the lights of the nearby streetlamp created a shadow that cascaded over his face, “What did you say?”

Sensing the building anger in his tone, Penumbra hissed at Della, who looked confused and annoyed more than anything, smacking her shoulder hard “What’s the matter with you?”

Rubbing her shoulder, Della managed out, “Well, they were sitting here enjoying food and each other’s company. It seemed like a date to me. Why are you mad at me? He’s the one who ran off and is following an older woman around like a lost puppy!”

By now, Eclipsius had turned around fully, showing his narrowed eyes and gritted teeth as he stomped back over, “Where do you come off making accusations like that? Mayor Owlson is my employer and friend! I can hang out with whoever I like without being expected to commit to a sexual or romantic bond, thank you.”

“Eclipsius is right,” the female owl said, coming to stand beside him. “And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to just have close friends. Just as there’s nothing wrong with not wanting romance or sexual intimacy.”

“Oh, great,” Della threw her hands up in the air. “He’s recruited you to his little “platonic love is an orientation” ideal.”

Now Zan’s yellow eyes were narrowing in the same fashion as Eclipsius’s eyes, snapping, “Asexuality and aromanticism are very much real orientations and preferences. Just the same as any other in the queer community.”

“Zan, don’t waste your time,” Eclipsius said coolly. “Della here is uninformed about how the queer community has grown despite being home for over a year.”

“Don’t talk down to me like I’m a bigot,” Della snapped.

“Not when it comes to gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders. But when it comes to down to people like me, or like Louie, you don’t know what to think. And what’s worse you don’t even try to understand,” Eclipsius spat at her.

Her eyes widened as she felt her heart nearly stop, “How do you know about Louie?”

“I saw the posts on Chirp,” the young Moonlander said in shameless tone. “Mayor Owlson lets me make throw away accounts to check up on the other Moonlanders and others. Louie and Donald are two of them.”

“You don’t know the full story,” Della said defensively. 

“Oh, so you’re saying that you didn’t repeatedly forget to call them by their new pronouns? That it was so bad that they moved in with your brother and his new girlfriend,” he challenged. “They’re your child and you made them think you didn’t accept them.”

Della gritted out, “Oh, like you dad would have been so accepting if he was still alive and you told him about your so-called preferences.”

Eyes now blazing like sapphires the hottest stars, Eclipsius snapped, “Tranquility may not have had all the things Earth does but there was one thing Moonlanders could be certain of. That no one would insult them or attack them for their preferences and identities. Everyone was oaky with calling each other “they,” switching between “he” and “she,” and liking whoever they want in any manner they wanted. But apparently those are no-no’s on Earth, aren’t they?”

Della, who was still angry but her flame had taken a hit of wind, was only slightly surprised when Eclipsius turned on Penumbra and snapped, “You saw it as did I. The stories of violence and ostracization shook our people to their cores. Wan is afraid to use “they” pronouns and Waxa is afraid to leave them alone. Quatra is afraid someone’s going to reveal that he use to be referred to as she. And I bet Mascon hasn’t gone back to the park now that he’s dating Mara because people at the park saw him with Magnus.”

Penumbra bowed her head in shame. Truth be told, she knew he was right. Despite the “Earth fun” everyone was having, discovering that Earthers were not all accepting of some Moon practices, specifically regarding their preferences and identities. She had hoped he hadn’t noticed, not because she didn’t see it as serious but she wanted his transition to Earth to go smoothly.

“I don’t hate anyone. I’m not a bigot. I would have loved to be friends or acquaintances with the people you introduced me to but you gave them the impression that I was looking for a sexual or romantic relationship,” Eclipsius’s voice began to break. 

Owlson felt tears slightly prick her own eyes. For a moment, she saw a familiar young owl getting into a verbal altercation with two older owls, the aunt and uncle of their late mother. Images of going to court and the tears that spilled as their father and stepmother held them close.

“You wouldn’t tell someone who was raped or got out of an abusive relationship to suck it up and get back on the dating scene. You wouldn’t call a gay couple slurs like “faggot.” You wouldn’t deadname a transgender person or call a bisexual person “selfish.” So why am I different? Why is your child different?” Eclipsius couldn’t be bothered to wipe away the hot tears pouring down his face. “Why did I have to feel guilty or like I’m broken every time I didn’t feel a romantic or sexual attraction to someone?”

By this time, Della’s glare had softened and her posture had relaxed, taking a shaking breath, “You shouldn’t have felt that way.”

“Well, I did,” the young Moon man said. “That’s why I left. No one understood me. If they did, they were too assimilated to Earth bias to say it to me.”

Penumbra was just staring in shock, tears pouring out of her eyes while her head stayed bowed to the ground. How long had he felt like that? Della said she was just bringing him to meet people. The Earther would always complain that he was being difficult or shy. Had she been too buried in her own work to find out the rest? She assumed that his father’s death and the move to Earth was just causing him to act up. Della had more experience with Earth relationships than she did. She had trusted her. For how long had he felt like his choices weren’t his own? That his preferences weren’t real? She wanted to cry out but her heart and body had no energy.

“We’re leaving now,” Eclipsius said, turning and stomping away as he finally found the realization to wipe his tear-stricken cheeks. “Have a nice night.”

As he strolled passed her, Zan locked eyes with Della and gritted through her teeth, “I hope you enjoy the food here while you can because I want you out of my city the moment you’re done.”

All thoughts of food had died long ago as Penumbra turned and strolled away herself, Della following close behind. 

Neither of the four having seen the tear-stricken face of Kara as she stopped her phone’s recording.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since the night where Eclipsius had poured his heart out to Penumbra and Della. And in those two weeks, a lot had went down. Since that day, Penumbra had not seen neither Eclipsius or Della. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true for the former. She saw him every time she turned on the TV of her apartment (she had moved into an Earther living space weeks prior to Eclipsius moving out of the manor with no warning.) 

On each channel, was a recording of that night with Eclipsius venting at the two women. Someone had apparently had been witnessing it and recorded it with their phone. The person was anonymous but the news anchors had stated the person had a family member who also suffered similar prejudice. Whoever had recorded it had left out bleeped out the names that were spoken, saving the youngest Duck triplet and the mentioned Moonlanders from being outed. Many had gotten behind Eclipsius’s statement, agreeing with his idea of autonomy and freedom of expressing one’s identity and preferences. Most of the Moonlanders had also sided with the youngest of their race, several coming out and expressing their hurt and anger over Earth’s closed-mindedness on social media.

It was Gibbous who called Penumbra and said, I’m going to make it up to Eclipsius! I spoke to Mr. Glomgold and he says he has BIG plans to show support for those of us who are oppressed, including Eclipsius.

Penumbra had half-heartedly sneered, imagining how the self-proclaimed “Savior of Earth,” would show his support. That had been a week ago. Penumbra had been practically holed up in her still-new Earth home, only leaving to take small walks or grab necessities from the nearby store. She had ignored all calls, both from her people and those that came from McDuck Manor. The guilt that was strangling her heart was added onto by the knowledge she was giving a cold shoulder to her people and the Duck children. She knew that they didn’t deserve her cold shoulder, but the night of the run in with Eclipsius and Owlson had left her emotionally exhausted, among other things. 

Too heartbroken by Eclipsius’s disenchantment with the Earth and their own people’s assimilation to oppressive Earther ideals, Penumbra had went back to the McDuck limo that Della claimed she borrowed without ease. The anger that had begun bubbling into her chest had all but killed any last remnants of the appetite that Della had stoked within the former Moon lieutenant. 

The anger was at Della, the one whom she had trusted more than anyone to help Eclipsius adjust to Earth. The female pilot had sworn that she would treat Eclipsius as one of her own. The battle-hardened Moon woman recalled how Della told her, just around the time that Eclipsius had left, that her youngest had left to go live with her brother and his new lover. Della certainly had treated Eclipsius like one of her children. She had heard the proud adventurer talk about her struggle to bond with the green-clad duckling, but now Penumbra suspected that her “friend’s” struggles were of her own making. When Della had dropped her off, Penumbra had slammed the passenger door and stomped off. She had entered the apartment and began to fling stuff about (not as drastically as the sailor drake’s temper tantrums but close enough).

She cursed everything about Earth. Their obliviousness. Their prejudice. She just cursed the Earth in general, fury causing her to lose reason like the smell of food causing a starved stray to act rabid. She actually regretted ever feeling any adoration for the planet she hated up until a year ago. Then she began cursing Della. She cursed the person she called her “Roomie” and her dishonesty and ignorance. She had focused on thrashing all the pieces in her small flat, specifically those that she had obtained on Earth. Ripping Earth shirts with insignias, patterns, and jokes into pieces. Breaking the cheap Darkwing Duck mug that Launchpad had gifted her. Redecorating the carpet with the not-so-gruesome remains of the stuffed paraphernalia she had won on other trips to the boardwalk. 

By the time she was done, her living space looked like the aftermath of a domestic dispute between a housewife gone-mad and her cheating husband’s property. Penumbra hadn’t cared in anyway. She only retired to her room where she full-on balled like a newborn Moonling, the headache that had formed at the beginning of her rampage was somewhere between reaching its peak and dying down. She didn’t care. She was too miserable to care. She was too busy hating the one person she blamed the most.

Herself.

Why had she left Eclipsius, the youngest of her people, a child that she and everyone on the Moon had a hand in raising, in the arms of someone else? Especially an Earther woman who had upped and left her own offspring alone with their uncle. She realized it was stupid of her to put the Moon teen in Della’s care, even if Eclipsius had accepted his father’s wrongdoings and forgiven the McDucks. The female pilot had only sent one or two texts to Penumbra’s phone but the lilac-colored Moonlander ignored her. 

Now, Penumbra was laying on her bed, facing upward to the ceiling but her eyes were somewhere else. In her hands, she held a photo containing a toddler Eclipsius being held by a female Moonlander. Her skin was a dark but vibrant shade of lapis which complimented her soft pale blue eyes which were looking lovingly at the past-replica of Eclipsius. Like her son, a mane of dark velvety red hair ran past her shoulders and came to stop in the middle of her back. Behind her was a proudly grinning Lunaris. But she paid not attention to that. 

“I’m sorry, Crescena,” she whispered to the photo. “I never meant for him to get hurt.”

Her attention was torn away from the photo when she heard her bedroom door open. Her eyes were greeted the familiar face of her girlfriend. Selene was not dressed in her usual Grecian deity attire, opting for a baby blue turtleneck and stone-washed skinny jeans. Her eyes shone with the same concerned love she emanated everyday since several days ago. How could Penumbra possibly forget the powerful but good-hearted immortal who she had fallen hard for. Feelings she hadn’t felt since her youth dominated her mind and heart. At the same time, it made her feel even more guilty that she had made time for her newfound lover but not for Eclipsius. 

How ironic that the week she had planned to ask Selene to move in with her was the week Eclipsius had moved out of the Manor, leaving nothing but a note stating he had moved away with just his personal possessions and that it would be a while before he contacted them. Penumbra resented Della for talking her out of forming a search party and herself for being so easily swayed. 

Crawling into bed with the warrioress, Selene’s eyes fell on the picture and gave a soft smile, “What a cutie.”

She was not at all disturbed or annoyed by either presence of the red-haired beauty or the Earth-hating General in the picture. It was one of the many traits that Penumbra adored about her girlfriend; unlike some Earthers, Selene was never bothered by the knowledge that her Moon-born mate kept a picture of someone else she once had affections for. 

“Even before the invasion, I always hated that Lunaris got Crescena and Eclipsius,” Penumbra whispered. “When Lunaris was lost, I thought I was making the right choice, as his guardian, to leave him with Della. Now I can see it was one of the worse mistake I ever made.”

“Hey,” the lunar goddess soothed, snuggling close to the other. “Don’t put this on yourself. You didn’t know what was happening.”

“I should have known what was actually happening,” the former Moon lieutenant seethed. “Instead of believing Della when she claimed that Eclipsius was “taking longer” to accept his new life on Earth, I should have asked him myself! Found out what was really going on!”

“The only one who is to blame, I’m sorry to say, is Della,” Selene said contritely. “Or whoever that woman who we’ve all been hanging out with is. The Della I knew would never be so prejudiced like that. Even if she was, it’s still not okay. But we’ll worry about that some other time when we’re more composed. As much as I want to yell at her, she’s not our concern. Eclipsius is.”

“So what do we do?” Penumbra asked as she placed the picture on the nightstand.

Kissing her partner’s cheek, the Grecian legend murmured, “One step at a time.”

At the McDuck Manor

When had her room become almost as suffocating as the Moon?

Della had been asking herself that question for two weeks. After she had dropped off Penumbra (who had cracked the window of the door when she slammed it and didn’t look back once), Della had settled to just grab a burger and fries with a chocolate shake, unable to shake the hunger even with what played out. She hadn’t even bothered to brush her teeth or change as she plopped into her bed. She felt as though she hadn’t slept more than an hour or two when someone had screamed her name.

“DELLA ELVIRA DUCK! GET YOUR TAIL FEATHERS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW YOUNG LADY!”

Almost as if she were a teen again being called down to get a scolding, Della had bolted downstairs. She had expected the angered expression of her uncle, but she hadn’t counted on the expression also painting the face of Beakley. She also noted that the children were standing off to the side, looking at her but more with horror, Launchpad and Duckworth standing near them as if ready to scoop them off to the next room or, if their expressions of fear were anything to go on, to the next city.

Whatever apology she had cooked up to excuse the cracked limo window died when the housekeeper shoved a phone, Huey’s by the look of the red-case, and her words shriveled into dust on her tongue. It was a news article with her photo on the front and a title that read: 

McDuck Prejudice Against LGBTQ?

Beneath it was a video. Without being asked, Beakley clicked play and the female pilot was welcomed with the sight of a recorded version of the argument from the night before. It was almost like having an out of body experience as she watched her past recorded self go back and forth with the Moon teen. 

When the video had stopped, Scrooge had only said, “No adventures. Not until this gets resolved. When you’re ready to apologize, and you will one way or another, the first people it will be to will be your child and that young man.”

The days that followed became hell. Having not been fully informed why their little sibling and their Moon house guest had left, the children were understandably shocked and angry and had refuse to speak to her. Beakley’s silence was worse as it was always followed with stern looks of disapproval and, in rare moments, short answers that made the younger female duck feel like a criminal. Launchpad hadn’t said much, sticking close to Scrooge (who had chosen the cold shoulder method) and avoiding direct eye contact. Out of all of them, Duckworth had been the most civil, though still closed off. 

The kids no longer brought their friends over but instead chose to go out to spend time with their peers. She still felt the sting when the Sabrewings had come to the mansion and spoke to her uncle face to face.

“My husband and I don’t take pride in this decision,” Indigo Sabrewing had stated, squeezing his partner’s hand, never breaking eye contact with the wealthy business man. “But considering what your niece said, we don’t feel comfortable, especially ethically-speaing, having our girls come over here to play. Webby can come over to our house and we’re feed her and whatnot without asking for reimbursement. We would just like it if their environment was less…tense.”

Her uncle had agreed without hesitance. And Della knew it wasn’t the promise not to ask for money that made him agree. 

What was even worse was the knowledge that, despite the obvious disappointment and anger choking the air of the Manor, she had no way to escape it. The first several days had been filled with everyone avoiding the windows due to the mass of news reporters eyeing their home waiting to take photos at the first movement of the curtains. Attempts to phone anyone outside her family was met with either unanswered calls or cold and angry responses that barely lasted a minute. Ditto for texts and social media messages.

It wasn’t unsurprising how many of the Moonlanders had unfriended her, but not before leaving angry messages.

Is this why Eclipsius left your home and hasn’t contacted anyone in months?

Don’t call me back ever.

You’re not our friend. You’re a hypocrite!

Get bent Earther!

What’s the matter with you?

It’s Earthers like you that make me and my partner afraid to leave the house!

I hope you get disowned! 

The messages were so strong, she could actually hear the shouting. The crying. The accusations. 

Della now sat on her bed, staring at the corner of her room where she had tossed her phone in anger. She never thought there would be an instance in her life where she could feel so alone despite no longer being on the Moon. She was proven wrong.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” she whispered in a soft and cracked voice. “I-I just…on the Moon…”

Her whispering to the air was cut off by a harsh mental retaliation that sounded like her brother, Ten years on the Moon doesn’t justify ignorance or a lack of trying to accept people for who they are. 

She looked back at those few weeks that Eclipsius had spent with her family under the same roof. As expected with any loss of family, the creative and talkative young man she knew while on the Moon was gone and replaced with a despondent and wary youth who winced and pulled away from any attempts by the residents of the Manor. The only ones he seemed to show any ounce of trust for were Donald and Louie. She recalled how the three gravitated to one another with ease. She recalled all the times he would storm away after the end of each date, shooting her angry and hurt looks.

The adventurous Duck twin had assumed he was just rejecting the dates to spite her (something she realized was a childish thing to think). Some dates ended on a neutral, civil note but others had ended with shouting. Usually between her and him. More often than not, both Earth duck and Moonlander were alone, no one but the walls to hear their arguments. The times the rest of the family was home, Louie would follow the Moon teen when he ran to the room they set up for him while Donald scolded Della. He told her to back off the kid. Let him make his decisions and build his own relationships. To stop forcing him to live the life she was trying to force on him.

She only now realized that he was not only referring to Eclipsius.

The days prior to Eclipsius coming out, Louie had also stated that they no longer wanted the “he/his/him” pronouns. Della felt shame as she realized how little effort she had put into this request. Not too long after Eclipsius up and left, her brother and youngest child followed suit. Their note was more explanatory, stating they would be living with Donald’s new girlfriend and stated not to be contacted unless it was something serious regarding the other children in the Manor. She had given them their space, choosing to communicate through texts. 

Now that too had ceased.

She wasn’t sure what made her disregard the authenticity of her son or Eclipsius’s identities and orientations. Once upon a time, she had considered herself to a very accepting person, liking everyone regardless of her they were attracted to or what they wanted to be called. Apparently, her time on the Moon had weakened that tolerable and acceptable part of herself, resenting how everything had changed and she couldn’t keep up.

“Or maybe I wasn’t as supportive as I thought,” Della murmured to herself, head in her hands.

She had apologized before, but this time it felt like an “I’m sorry” wouldn’t be strong enough. Too many bad choices had been made on her part and so many ugly things had come to the surface. Would anyone believe her, accepting that she realized her wrongs? Or would they just accuse her of saving face and lying? 

How does one fix a thing like that?

She then recalled an instance in her childhood when Grandma Duck had approached her while after she had been sent to her room for calling her cousin Fethry a “nasty fish-lover.” The elderly duck had been the perfect balance of loving and harsh. 

Sitting her granddaughter and herself down on the bed, the gray-haired duck had told her, “It’s easy to hurt someone. And it’s harder to forgive or apologize, especially when people think you don’t mean it. That’s why you have to do whatever you can to show you mean it. It may be painful, especially when you don’t think you’re in the wrong or you’re still angry, but it’s more rewarding than winning any argument.”

As those words echoed in her head, something slowly began to spark in her chest. And it was that spark that caused her get off her bed, walk to pick up her discarded phone, and dial a painfully familiar number.

The moment the call went through, she fought through lumps in her throat to whisper, “Hi sweetie, it’s Mom. I need to talk with you.”

In St. Canard 

“I’ll see that he gets it,” Owlson nodded, taking the primly wrapped present from the two adult Moonlanders. 

One was female and responded to “Miss” and a more androgynous one that responded to “Mx.”

“Please,” Wan said, pain in their dark purple eyes. “Tell him that we said we’re sorry we weren’t there for him. And tell him that Wan said that they’re not mad at him.”

“I will. I promise,” the female owl nodded, a gentle seriousness in her eyes.

Giving her wistful nod, Wan turned to follow their companion out, but not before casting a longing glance at the closed door. 

In the two weeks that followed, Owlson had been bombarded with calls, letters, and a miscellany of other packages and notifications from citizens and organizations alike. Many of them were for Eclipsius, establishing their agreement that some people in the LGBTQ community needed to have some more forms of recognition, requesting the permission to demonstrate or establish events. Other were asking if Eclipsius could come forward to speak out at said events. Some were more about protesting, removing, and boycotting any products or services associated with McDuck Enterprises. And still, quite a few were letters and packages were for Eclipsius, most of them from his fellow Moonlanders. 

Not being able to contact him through his phone or social media, many of them had resorted to communicate through letters, not unlike the way they use to communicate back on in Tranquility. Some, like Wan, had brought their items in person after learning of the adolescent Moonlander’s whereabouts. Eclipsius, too overwhelmed and stressed by the whole ordeal, wasn’t willing or ready to see anyone, not even his own kind. 

It was for this reason why Owlson was coming out of her office to speak with them whenever she was notified of their presence while Eclipsius was organizing and filling out forms and other documents. He apparently had a knack for it from helping his father from the time he was nine. Impressive. Maybe one day she would see him in a place right beside her, not as a secretary but as a leader trying to better the world for others.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she felt a presence behind her. Turning around, she frowned when she saw who it was. Penumbra, dressed in a short-sleeved royal purple blouse and black denims while Selene wore a simple white sundress. 

Shaking herself from the dazedness caused by her girlfriend’s transportation, Penumbra locked eyes with a frowning Owlson and said sheepishly, “Uh, hello.”

Crossing her arms, Zan stood firmly and replied quietly, “And salutations to you too.”

“Hello, Mayor Owlson,” Selene smiled with a nod and wave.

St. Canard’s mayor didn’t bat an eye as she nodded, “Is there anyway I can help you ladies with?”

Taking in a deep breath, the female Moonlander spoke, “I want to see Eclipsius.”

“I don’t think that can happen right now,” the city official said softly and professionally. “He’s not interested in seeing people at the moment.”

At that moment, Eclipsius had chosen to come into the office, flicking through a folder when he froze upon seeing the older Moonlander. Zan quickly moved to stand beside her companion as stiffened like a frightened and agitated animal, taking the folder so he wouldn’t drop it in his shock. Both former Moon citizens locked eyes with each other, their stares empty of anything. Then Eclipsius’s eyes narrowed and Penumbra’s widened in in desperation.

“These ladies came in looking to speak with you, Eclipsius,” Zan explained, placing her hands on his shoulders gently, ready to help him move if he wished. “If you’re not ready-,”

“No,” Eclipsius quickly stopped her gently. “I’ve been hiding for too long. And I’m tired of it.”

Selene squeezed Penumbra’s own shoulders as she saw her girlfriend wince at the last sentence, the warrioress having sensed some underline aggressiveness than neither goddess or mayor sensed. 

“Do you need me to stay in here with you?” the female owl inquired, knowing it would be pointless to double check.

“I’ll be fine,” the red-haired Moon youth nodded. 

“Alright,” Zan accepted with a nod as she began heading to the door, but not before adding. “If you need anything, yell for me.”

Secretly, Owlson was praying it wouldn’t turn into a all out thrashing as she had experienced in the hallways of her high school by boys who wanted to pants her to disprove her identity of being female. 

As soon as the door closed, Eclipsius spoke, “I’m not going back to Duckburg. Let’s get that out into the open. I’ll only ever go back to visit Donald and Louie.”

“We promise you, no one’s here to make you doing anything you don’t want to,” Selene said reassuringly. “I’m sorry that Della acted otherwise.”

Nodding as if to accept her words, Eclipsius turned to Penumbra, “And what would you like to say?”

His voice was careful but curious, something Penumbra realized reminded her of the tone she used when she first met Della’s kids. The boy he was on the Moon had given way to the young man who stood before her. A stranger. They were strangers. That thought hurt more than any wound she received in battle.

Swallowing back the tears, Penumbra took a shaky breath and spoke, “I’m sorry. For everything. For just pawning you off on Della when you needed someone familiar to lean onto. For not checking up on you correctly and taking Della’s word that you were fine. For not coming to look for you and making you think no one cared or supported you. You deserved better. It doesn’t matter what Earth has to offer. It doesn’t excuse their oppression or how it made you afraid and uncomfortable to the point where you were made to feel that cutting off contact was the best answer.”

Eclipsius’s eyes widened but he pinched them shut turned his head downwards, arms folded tightly in front of his gray-plaid covered chest, “Things are never going to be the same. Not by a long shot.”

Penumbra felt like a scream would yank itself from her throat when he added while looking up slowly, “But I’m going to try and meet you half way.”

Immediately, tears of pain became tears of joy, allowing herself to fall back a little onto Selene. As much as she wanted to hug Eclipsius, the Moon woman knew physical contact and endearments weren’t on the table yet. But with some patience, maybe they would be in time…

“Do you want to catch a moo-vie with us later in the week?” Penumbra inquired hopefully. “Or grab a caw-fee later?”

“I’ll think about it but I’m leaning more towards the movie,” the young Moonlander nodded. “I need to check my schedule.”

“That’s fair enough,” the lunar deity nodded. “See you then.”

Eclipsius gave a simple wave as he went back to Owlson. Perhaps he would contact them some time after work. He had been wanting to go see film for awhile. 

Back in Calisota, outside of Duckburg, a drake in a sailor suit and his girlfriend watched hopefully and nervously as a green-clad duckling stood before an adult female duck, holding a shopping bag. A minute later, the two shook hands.

“Hi, Mom.”


End file.
